Shooting zoo pictures: I always find that when I'm trying to take pictures of animals behind glass, my pictures have reflections, some times focus on smudges on the glass, look a...

erpatterson78 Loc: Ohio

I always find that when I'm trying to take pictures of animals behind glass, my pictures have reflections, some times focus on smudges on the glass, look a little ok. I've been able to move around to get rid of the reflections, smudges etc, but doing so also takes away from the angle I wanted. I am also right up next to the glass to when taking them because my Nikon D3100, only has the 18-55mm lens. I also end up making the photos B&W to help hid some flaws in the shot. I go to the zoo a lot with the kids and take lots of pictures :)

Wall-E Loc: Phoenix, AZ

erpatterson78 wrote:

I always find that when I'm trying to take picture... (show quote)

And your question is????
What camera are you using?

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

erpatterson78 wrote:

I always find that when I'm trying to take picture... (show quote)

If you're shooting up that close, you could put a rubber lens shade on the lens and place it against the glass, it would remove any glare.

erpatterson78 Loc: Ohio

Wall-E - I mentioned it was a D3100 with the default 18-55mm lens. Must of deleted some of my post. I was wanting to know if anyone else shoots shots at the zoo and if they did what tips or tricks do they use to help eliminate some of the issues i'm having or different issues they may have come across.

erpatterson78 Loc: Ohio

speters wrote:

If you're shooting up that close, you could put a rubber lens shade on the lens and place it against the glass, it would remove any glare.

Thanks for the advice I'll have to look into that.

tradio Loc: Oxford, Ohio

Take some black cloth with suction cups or some other way to attach it to the glass and drape it over your lens. This will block the light from hitting the glass and reflecting back into your lens.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

some times focus on smudges - I have a friend with a D3100, but I don't have it handy...Check the manual for pages 58 - 62 (I have an electronic copy). You probably want to manually set a single focus point on the animal rather than having the camera decide what is closest to the camera that might be the window smudge. You might also try the focus lock as well as manually focusing. Changing the focus points around on this model can be confusing (from my Canon perspective). You just need to practice or consider manual focus that gives you complete control and doesn't change automatically.

Wall-E Loc: Phoenix, AZ

erpatterson78 wrote:

Wall-E - I mentioned it was a D3100 with the default 18-55mm lens. Must of deleted some of my post. I was wanting to know if anyone else shoots shots at the zoo and if they did what tips or tricks do they use to help eliminate some of the issues i'm having or different issues they may have come across.

Sorry, senior moment.
I agree that you must use manual focus.
And find something to shade the reflections.
And, whatever you do, don't even THINK about flash.
A lot of people with P&S have problems like that

Wall-E Loc: Phoenix, AZ

erpatterson78 wrote:

Wall-E - I mentioned it was a D3100 with the default 18-55mm lens. Must of deleted some of my post. I was wanting to know if anyone else shoots shots at the zoo and if they did what tips or tricks do they use to help eliminate some of the issues i'm having or different issues they may have come across.

Sorry, senior moment.
I agree that you must use manual focus.
And find something to shade the reflections.
Also, whatever you do, don't even THINK about flash.
A lot of people with P&S's have problems like that in zoos and aquariums.

erpatterson78 Loc: Ohio

Wall-E wrote:

Sorry, senior moment.
I agree that you must use manual focus.
And find something to shade the reflections.
And, whatever you do, don't even THINK about flash.
A lot of people with P&S have problems like that

Ha ha yeah I did a flash 1 time and learned my lesson!

erpatterson78 Loc: Ohio

CHG_CANON wrote:

b some times focus on smudges /b - I have a frie... (show quote)

Thanks for the input. You are right, I do know for a fact it was not single point focus, I believe it was called matrix so the camera will use an array of focal points to get the shot.

Thanks everyone this is very useful information that I will take a moment to do on my next trip. I'll let you know how it turned out.

klaus Loc: Guatemala City, Guatemala

erpatterson78 wrote:

Thanks for the input. You are right, I do know for a fact it was not single point focus, I believe it was called matrix so the camera will use an array of focal points to get the shot.

Thanks everyone this is very useful information that I will take a moment to do on my next trip. I'll let you know how it turned out.

Matrix is a metering mode. For autofocus you heve the selection of either Single-Point AF, Dynamic-Area AF and 3D-Tracking. I think you are describing Dynamic-Area AF.

bioteacher Loc: Brooklyn, NY

Did you try a polarizer as it may cut out some of the glare. I have used it at the Bronx zoo and it helped on some shots.

EstherP

speters wrote:

If you're shooting up that close, you could put a rubber lens shade on the lens and place it against the glass, it would remove any glare.

Something I have wondered about: do these rubber lens shades allow you to press them up against the glass and still take a photo at a 45 degree or other angle through the glass?
You can't always stand exactly in front of the subject you want to photograph.
EstherP

Pentony Loc: Earth Traveller

Wall-E wrote:

Sorry, senior moment.
I agree that you must use manual focus.
And find something to shade the reflections.
Also, whatever you do, don't even THINK about flash.
A lot of people with P&S's have problems like that in zoos and aquariums.

Why not using flash at an angle to the glass?